HOW TO BE RACE READY

HOW TO BE RACE DAY READY

By Dr. Meredith Turner & Allie MacPhail

Family Medicine Center

The idea of racing can be scary for any athlete. Amateurs and professionals alike experience nerves about race day! Two of FMC’s professional team have team up to pull some pointers to help you succeed during your race day! Dr. Meredith Turner (Primary Care Sports Medicine physician) and Allie MacPhail (Marriage and Family Therapist and Certified Mental Trainer)

PREPARATION

99.9 % of the success of race day comes from your preparation

MENTALLY

Visualization training is very effective at preparing an athlete to perform well.

Have a race plan. What is your attack? At what point

do you change your pace? How to handle your competitors? Create long term and short term goals. Make sure they are SMART goals (Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant and Time-based).

PHYSICALLY

Fuel your body with nutritious food. Eat high carb meals prior to race day.

Hydration! Drink fluids throughout the day. General rule is 2.7 L (approx. 16 cups) for men and 3.7 L (approx. 12 cups) for women.

Physical conditioning (strengthening, flexibility, endurance, agility) are essential for injury prevention.

Sleep is critical for recovery from training. Student athletes should be get at least 9-10 hours of sleep every night.

MENTALLY

Race day is not the time to try to be creative, you have trained for this. Trust your training.

Stick to the race plan!

Practice being in the moment that is all you can control

Physically

Always eat breakfast on race day. Choose predictable foods that you know worked well during training.

Avoid changing shoes on the day of race

Hydration! 16 ounces 2 hours before physical activity and another 8-16 ounces approximately 15 minutes before activity

Skin protection – Apply sports sunscreen at least 30 minutes prior to event

POST-RACE

MENTALLY

Do not generalize your mistakes if you had any, be as specific as you can state them like facts and what you might do another time to try to fix them.

Talk to your coach for feedback.

Celebrate that you just had another race, another way to learn how to be in your sport!

Get back to your training plan

PHYSICALLY

If you feel unwell after competing, tell your coach and medical team

Drink an additional 8 ounces of fluid within 30 minutes after exercising.

Cool down and light stretching

Ice sore muscles